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Sidney Crosby (upper body) will not return Monday night, but he is feeling better.

"I'm not playing tonight, but things are going in the right direction," said Crosby after Pittsburgh's morning skate. Happy with the way I'm feeling. He took part in the morning skate, but rotated in on defense so it was obvious he wasn't going to return. This will be the third straight game he will miss due to an upper-body injury. Nov 19 - 11:33 AM

Sidney Crosby (upper body) skated at the end of Saturday's morning skate, but he won't play against Ottawa tonight.

Crosby was not expected to be ready for Saturday's match, so this shouldn't come as a surprise. He is dealing with an upper-body injury that is projected to sideline him for about one week. Nov 17 - 12:29 PM

Depth Charts

Sidney Crosby (upper body) will not return Monday night, but he is feeling better.

"I'm not playing tonight, but things are going in the right direction," said Crosby after Pittsburgh's morning skate. Happy with the way I'm feeling. He took part in the morning skate, but rotated in on defense so it was obvious he wasn't going to return. This will be the third straight game he will miss due to an upper-body injury.

The NHL has decided not to hold a hearing for Evgeni Malkin over his high hit on Washington's T.J. Oshie.

The incident occurred on Wednesday and Malkin received a match penalty for his actions, which triggered an automatic review. It seems that will be the extent of what happens though. Oshie went through the concussion protocol, but was ultimately able to return to the game and went on to score the game-winning goal.

Jake Guentzel scored a goal in Pittsburgh's 4-2 loss to New Jersey on Tuesday.

Guentzel has recorded at least a point in three of his last four games. He has six goals and 12 points in 16 contests in 2018-19. That's a pretty encouraging start after he was limited to 48 points last season.

Dominik Simon scored a goal in Thursday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the New York Islanders.

Simon did well to go to the net and tap in a rebound from Jake Guentzel's shot for his third goal of the season. Simon now has goals in back-to-back games and has extended his point streak to five games (two goals, four assists). Currently riding shotgun to Sidney Crosby, Simon has fantasy value with eight points in 11 games to open the season. Evgeni Malkin also scored in the loss.

Phil Kessel has nine points in his last nine games but is a minus-seven.

The Penguins are floundering as they have lost eight of their last nine contests to drop to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. Kessel has been producing offensively but his minus-seven rating that makes him even on the season. He has 23 points in 20 games this season and is a fantasy asset despite his poor showing defensively of late as far as plus/minus is concerned.

Patric Hornqvist scored two goals and registered an assist in a 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay Thursday night.

That brings Hornqvist up to seven goals and 10 points in 17 games in 2018-19. He's on pace to get about 34 goals, which would be a career-high for him. That being said, he had roughly the same goals-per-game pace in 2017-18, but finished with 29 markers because he was limited to 70 games.

Bryan Rust cited his "scoring touch and finishing ability" as something he'd like to build on going forward.

Rust agreed to a four-year, $14 million contract extension with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday. The Penguins love that he can play on both wings, kill penalties, and slot in up and down the lineup. However, if there is one argument against that contract, it's been his overall production thus far as he has 33 goals and 79 points in 181 career games. The 26-year-old forward could still grow in that regard, especially if he's able to stay healthy after dealing with some injuries over the last two seasons.

Daniel Sprong will make his way back into the lineup for Pittsburgh on Saturday night against the Ottawa Senators.

Sprong sat out the last four games after picking up four points in 12 games this season. He'll skate on the third line alongside Dominik Simon and Derek Grant. Riley Sheahan will make way for him, while Juuso Riikola and Garrett Wilson will also sit.

Kris Letang scored a goal in Saturday’s 6-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators.

Letang got the game started with a laser of a shot from the blue line to open the scoring with 8:01 left in the opening period. Things just completely fell apart from there, with the Penguins giving up the next five goals before the end of the second period. Pittsburgh did well not to roll, scoring three in the third to somewhat make this game interesting. Letang now has points in back-to-back games after going the previous five games without a point.

Schultz suffered a broken leg in Saturday's game against Montreal, but the Penguins are expected to replace him from within. "We’ll deal with it from within," Rutherford told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Monday afternoon. "It won’t be any different than anything else. If our team doesn’t play as well as we’d like, then we have to consider other options. At this point in time, we have guys who certainly deserve that opportunity [to replace Schultz]." Jamie Oleksiak, who was a healthy scratch on Saturday, will move back into a top-six role for now.

Olli Maatta is in a weird position this season as the Penguins' fourth-longest tenured member, but also the third youngest player on the team.

Maatta is in his sixth campaign with the Penguins, having first established himself in the NHL at the age of 19. "I was youngest by a long mile," Maatta said. "Now it feels like there’s more and more young guys coming up. The age group is definitely getting a little younger than it used to be. But it’s different for everybody. There’s no one way. You look at Sid, he’s the best in the world. He’s an exception. Geno’s an exception. They can just hop right in. For some guys, it takes a little longer. Look at (Guentzel). It took him a little longer to get in, but he hops in and he’s one of the better players. It really doesn’t matter what year you come in." Maatta isn't a major offensive contributor, but he does chip in from time-to-time. He has three assists in 10 games this season.

Jamie Oleksiak is finally showing his skills that made him a first round pick back in 2011.

Oleksiak has become a valued member of the Pittsburgh defensive corps as the six-foot seven-inch 265 pounder is a physical specimen on the blueline. He also has an offensive side to his game as he has four goals and eight points this season. "I think when Jamie gets himself in trouble, he tries to do a little bit too much," coach Mike Sullivan said earlier this season. "We talk a lot with him about his positioning and staying behind the puck and joining the rush, not leading the rush. I think (assistant coaches Jacques Martin and Sergei Gonchar), they spend a lot of one-on-one time with him, trying to help him with the different aspects of his game and the subtleties of his game. When Jamie plays a quiet game, I think that’s when he’s at his best." He is worth picking up in most leagues if available.

Matt Murray gave up three goals on 10 shots before getting pulled in Saturday’s 6-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators.

The slump for Murray continues. He looks like a completely different goalie, lacking confidence and getting rattled very early in games. This marks the third time he gets pulled in his last six starts, suffering losses in five of them. Murray gets a no-decision tonight after his teammates scored three consolation goals in the final period. His record remains at 4-5-1 but he now owns a 4.08 goals-against-average and a .877 save percentage.

DeSmith has made six appearances this month, including three previous starts. He has a 1-3-0 record during that time with a 2.27 goals-against average, a .927 save percentage and one shutout. With Matt Murray struggling, DeSmith could string together some starts if he can get some victories.

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